


Hurricane Peixes

by Solitarysynonym



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Land of Gods and Heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-17 08:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16513004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solitarysynonym/pseuds/Solitarysynonym
Summary: Feferi Peixes, wealthy heiress and eccentric grad student, seeks to find the people she has met in her dreams and, upon meeting the Striders, decides that they definitely need a bigger habitat to be healthy and safe.College/grad school superhero AU of homestuck where the human alphas and betas are all present and the trolls are human but all of them still visit Propsit and Derse in their dreams of late as all of them awaken to their god-like powers in the wake of invasions from imps and other enemies from the session. Inspired by threads from an rp in the long long ago call the Lands of Gods and Heroes.





	1. The Wind is Rising

Unusual things had been happening around town. Strange monsters had been appearing, and people had begun sighting supposed superheroes, blurry videos of people throwing fire or lightning and fighting with the monsters. 

For Feferi, things had begun more mundanely, with strange dreams in a place where everything was purple and gravity no longer mattered if she didn't want it to. Some nights she woke up on a purple bed in a purple tower, dressed in purple clothes. On waking, she remembered little of her dreams. After the first few times, she began to grow curious about the large city she saw out of the wide open window and, given her newfound ability to fly in her dreams, it seemed only appropriate to go out looking for friends. 

She found other people in the other towers, all asleep and unresponsive. Eridan she knew in real life but these others... unfamiliar to say the least until one day at a local cafe a face jumped out at her as being very familiar. Nepeta was a real person, a real person living in the same city as her. Eridan was here in her dreams as well... perhaps all of those in the towers existed out in the world as well. 

When she remembered, she would search at night for other dreamers and wrote all she could remember as soon as she awoke. 

\------

This was the first tower she'd seen with more than one person in it. A blonde boy slept in the bed, with another blonde boy sitting on the floor leaning back against it. She wondered if they were both asleep, their dark shades hiding their eyes. She swooped in eagerly through the window, grinning widely as she stayed up near the ceiling as she considered her options. 

"Who are you?" a hostile voice asked, the blonde on the floor jumping up to his feet and looking up at her expressionlessly. She could see herself reflected in his spiky shades. 

"Feferi!" she enthused, circling near the ceiling again in her excitement before dropping down to her feet facing him. Looking up at him. She'd never considered herself tall and the spiky haired spiky glasses'd stranger towered over her. "What's your name?"

His body language remained hostile and suspicious as he watched her from behind those dark glasses. "Dirk," he said at last. "How did you get in here?"

"This is a dream! I'm dreaming and I've met other people here who are dreaming and exist out in reality! Do you live in Sburb city too? Maybe we could sea each other in person! I've found a friend of mine in one of these towers and met up with another person out in reel life as whale!! Can we meet up?" Feferi bounced on the balls of her feet, lifting off of the ground in her excitement on some of the bounces. "She said that she seas one of her reel life fronds here too in the purple city!"

As best as she could tell behind those shades, he looked pretty floored. 

"Sburb city?"

"Yes!! Do you live here too????" Feferi lifted off of the ground again. 

"How are you floating like that?"

"I don't know!! It just happens here!! You should try it too for shore!! Flying is SO EXCITING!!!"

Dirk moved to keep between her and the sleeper on the bed and she let that go for now. "You live in Sburb city."

"Yes!!! Do you?"

"Near there." 

"Where? Isle come meet you!!!"

"I don't think I want to meet a dream person out in reality."

"Oh... please? I fin this might be IMPORTANT!! Please can we meet? Um here if you remember when you wake up my pesterchum handle is cuttlefishCuller and you should find me!!! Do you have one? I don't always remember fins when I wake up so we should both tail each other so we have a chance of finding each otter!!!"

Dirk made no response for so long that Feferi lifted off of the floor again, trying to see the sleeper on the bed more clearly. He was blonde as well, though his shades were rounded rather than spiky like Dirk's. 

He moved to block her again, then shook his head. "Fine. timaeusTestified, if you remember," he said begrudgingly. "You only come here when you're asleep?"

Feferi perked up at that, fuchsia eyes widening as she focused wholly on him again. "Do you mean that you come here when you _aren't_ asleep sometimes? How do you manage that? How long have you known about this place? I've only remembered dreams here recently but my new friend Nepeta said that she has been here for longer."

Dirk watched her suspiciously, not answering right away and the dream ended abruptly, leaving her on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to clutch onto the vague memories of what had just transpired. Boy with spiky blonde hair and spiky black shades named Dirk. Sitting on the floor of a room of a boy with smooth blonde hair and smooth round black shades whose name... well she hadn't ever gotten the other boy's name. His pesterchum.... something with a T... Frustrated, she sat up in bed, glaring at her journal as if if was the reason she couldn't remember more than that. It was unfair that she only woke up there occasionally, barely remembered what happened when she did. 

Feferi flopped back onto the bed, closing her eyes and trying to recapture the elusive dream. She wanted to find him again. To ask who the other boy was. To ask if he had his own tower room. To ask.... to ask so many things. The house was dark and quiet but for the quiet bubble and slosh of the filters circulating the water in the many tanks around her room, housing her various fish and other aquatic creatures. T.... twister? Telephone? The harder she tried to remember the more the threads of her dream slid away from her. 

\-----

Classes failed to keep her attention that week, her mind straying ever more determinedly to that purple city. She sent a few messages Nepeta's way, hoping to get some more insights or advice from the only other person she knew for sure knew about the purple city. She got back reassurances that it was real but little else. 

Surfing became more of an escape than usual, a time to put her frustrations into physical activity and a chance to feel as though she were actually accomplishing anything. The water and waves seemed to respond to her more and more and she found that the waves shaped themselves to her will, giving her some of the longest and best rides she had experienced. Soon, though, she realized that she needed to learn how to control these powers. After all, it felt far too much like cheating if the wave caught her instead of the other way around. 

Honing her grasp of her new-found water skills gave her at least something to focus on. 

\-----

A week had passed with no memories of visiting the purple dream city again and Feferi had resorted to trying to search through every handle on pesterchum starting with a T, though nothing looked familiar. As time passed, she grew increasingly uncertain that she remembered correctly. Maybe it had been a D. Maybe it hadn't happened at all. She scrolled through another few hundred handles, her eyes hurting, when her client pinged.

timaeusTestified [TT]  began pestering  cuttlefishCuller [CC] 

TT: Hey.  
TT: Weird fishy dream girl.  
TT: It's me. The blonde human loser you met in your dream world.  
TT: Contacting you like I said I would.  
TT: Was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place?  
TT: Y'know, to discuss what happened between us.  
CC: Y----ES I would LOV---E to!!!!!!!  
CC: W)(ere do you live??  
CC: S)(ell I bring anyfin over?  
CC: O)( my cod I'm so glad you remembered and found me!!!!!!!  
CC: T)(at must be SO convenient to always be awake and not )(ave to strain to remember dream bits like t)(e rest of us!!!  
TT: Great.  
TT: Come over whenever, bro.  
TT: It seems we don't need you to bring anything.  
TT: Address is 33 Rein Dash Road, apartment 6A.  
TT: Oh, and the buzzer is broken.  
TT: You might have to fight with the door a little.  
TT: See you soon, fish girl.

timaeusTestified [TT]  ceased pestering  cuttlefishCuller [CC] 

Feferi, too excited to think twice... and never one much for thinking twice regardless, jumped up and bolted for her car, punching the address into her GPS. Her pink coupe screeched around the corner as her GPS announced that she had reached her destination. Giddily she locked her car and bounced out, oblivious to how out of place her car and self were in the run down part of town, everything a little run down and abandoned looking. Feferi didn't care. Her new friend lived here. Her new friend had invited her over and she might finally learn a little more about the strange purple city. He might even know what was happening in the city! How many people were developing these powers!! 

She took the stairs two at a time despite her short legs and there, right in front of her, apartment 6A. Her heart raced as she stared at it, reaching up to smooth her wild mane of hair, attempting to achieve some sort of decorum or self-possession before she burst in. She glanced at the buzzer, but no, he had said it was broken. 

Fef knocked on the door politely, then louder, then pounded her fist on it. Dirk... was his name Dirk? He hadn't said... Well... maybe he was taking a nap or in the bathroom... he had said to just fight with the door to come in.. that she'd be welcome whenever. She gripped the door handle and wiggled it and it popped open. Beaming, she stepped through. "Timaeus?" she called, but the apartment was clearly empty. "...Dirk?" 

Feferi stepped further in, eyebrows coming together as she looked around at the mess, the peeling paint, the broken down furniture. Uncertain, she turned in a circle. "Timaeus?" 

\-----

The Striders returned home from the grocery store, and Dirk laughed softly, nodding at the pink coupe parked in front of their building. "Surprised no one's stolen that yet." 

Dave looked it over and shook his head in disbelief. "Who would park a car like that in this part of town? Rich people are idiots." 

They trudged up the stairs. The elevator had been broken for months, the landlord waving it off and threatening to evict when anyone complained about it. At least on the sixth floor they had a little more security against intruders. Besides which they didn't have anything worth stealing and, if they were home, had their swords and the know-how to use them to make any would-be intruders sorry. 

Dirk paused when he spotted their open door and met Dave's gaze. They lived in their shades, so in sync with each other that without a word they ghosted down the hallway silently, or at least as silently as they could manage with arms full of groceries. No sense letting their food get stolen by leaving it unattended in the hallway while they scared off the intruder. 

Dirk took point, balancing on one foot to kick the door wide, orange eyes sweeping their place, looking for the familiar towering shape.... and finding only a short girl in a pink dress so bright he felt momentarily grateful for his shades, some distant part of his mind registering that the eye-searing dress matched the ostentatious car parked outside. And she was vaguely familiar....

\-----

Feferi gulped in surprise when the door crashed open, then lit up when her friend came in. "Dirk!!! Where were you? It's not nice to invite me over and then not be here!!"

Apparently he even wore those sunglasses in reality. His hair and shades as spiky and out here in the real world. 

"What are you talking about?" He asked, frowning deeply. "I didn't invite you over. I haven't contacted you at all yet. How did you find my address? And how the hell did you get into our apartment?"

"Dirk," he began slowly. "Who is this...? Do you know her?" Even if he had invited her over, why had she broken into their place? He kept his grocery bags in hand and stayed ready to fight if need be.

"You invited me!" Feferi insisted, propping her hands on her hips, lips pursed. "Invite me over with your glubbin weird instructions and pretend like you don't know why I'm here. Living like petstore bettafish... no wonder you're so grumpy," she muttered under her breath as she tried to seize one of Dirk's bags to help him.

Dirk let her take them, figuring that it was better to let her be encumbered than himself. He stayed where he was, between her and Dave. "I met her once," Dirk explained to Dave in an undertone. "I don't know why she's here or how she got here."

Dave tensed when she yanked Dirk's groceries away and stomped around like she owned the place. Her wild hair and temper made her seem bigger than she was and he could feel his anxiety spiking. Without him noticing, the air around him began to warm up, the tip of a nearby smuppet's nose beginning to smolder. 

"You INVITED me!" Feferi said again. "You messaged me on pesterchum and I was so happy because I couldn't remember what your handle was and I didn't know how to find you and then you messaged me and I got so excited I came over here as fast as I could and now you're pretending like you didn't invite me and it's MEAN!!" She set the bag on the counter and whirled back toward him and the other, her hands on her hips once more. 

"My piece of shit auto-responder has been going through my files again. He must have found Feferi's information and thought it would be 'ironic' to invite her over and not tell me." He spoke loud enough that Feferi would hear him in the small space. Sighing, he moved out of the way so Dave could fully enter the apartment and closed the door behind him. "I've met her once before. She's loud, but harmless." He told Dave, lowering his voice so Feferi wouldn't be able to hear him. "You okay?"

Dave flinched when she shouted but attempted to give his brother an amused look. "You should really shut your auto-responder down." 

"You think I haven't tried?" Dirk grumbled, taking the bag of groceries from Dave and frowning when his hand brushed Dave's arm. "You feel hot, what's wrong?" 

"It's nothing," Dave mumbled, pulling away and retreating to the far side of the apartment. Must be something wrong with the heating because he was feeling hot. Maybe it was just the stress of the weird little hair monster in pink stomping around and shouting. "...Is she staying?"

Feferi, fuming, took the second bag of groceries and set it beside the first. "YOU invited ME!!" Feferi snapped, glaring at those impassive spiky shades. "What's an auto-responder? Why would it invite me 'ironically'?" 

Dirk watched her with the deadpan calm of a Strider. "It's a program I set up to answer my pesterchum when I'm busy, but it does things on its own sometimes too. Was the text red when I messaged you?" 

"I don't remember!! How was I supposed to know to look at your text color to know if if was you or a computer?!?"

Dave gritted his teeth, wrapping his arms around himself. The room felt hazy and hot and claustrophobic. The smuppet began to burn in earnest. 

Dirk opened his mouth to respond when the smoke alarm he'd installed began to blare its warning. He whipped around and saw the flaming smuppet and the various detritus around it beginning to catch fire too. "Damn!"

Feferi jumped when the alarm blared, staring at the fire in surprise. Without thinking, she reached for the nearest water to quench the fire. With a crack, the faucet in the kitchen broke under the sudden force of the water surging to do her bidding, a long steam of it arching overhead and pouring onto the smuppet, soaking it and the things around it as well as splashing everything between the sink and the smuppet. She clapped her hands over her mouth, hoping neither of them would realize it was her, her stomach turning over guiltily when the broken faucet continued to gush water. Feferi ran over to it, focusing her uncertain powers on the gush of water and gripping the edge of the counter to steady herself, holding it in place, preventing any more water from spraying out. 

Dirk stared in shock at the fire... and then so many things happened at once. Dave looked freaked out and where had that water come from? Regardless, it was a lucky break as the smoke alarm shut off, though now the apartment reeked of scorched stuffing and fabric and they were definitely not getting even the meager deposit back on the carpet. He groaned to himself. How were they going to afford a plumber? The faucet was snapped clean off and the water... some of it trickled into the sink still but it wasn't gushing... He ducked under, using his rudimentary knowledge of plumbing to get the main water to the faucet shut off, confused when Feferi sighed with relief and sat at their tiny kitchen table. He hurried over to check on Dave. 

Dave grabbed his ironically crappy Spongebob towel and used it to mop up some of the water and ash, hands shaking. Had he done that? 

Dirk rested a hand on Dave's shoulder, snagging some of the dirty clothes lying in a heap to help mop up the mess. "Guess we'll have to hit up the laundromat a little earlier this week," he said, trying to sound calm and unshaken. What was happening? 

"Is the sink broken?" Dave asked. 

"Looks like it... at least it put out the fire... I guess we'll be washing dishes in the bathroom for a while."

"What?" Feferi had been quiet for a while, guilt over breaking their sink and bursting in because of a lying computer program rendering her unusually subdued. "No, that doesn't make sense." She shook her head, her wild mane of hair bouncing as she dug her rhinestone encrusted phone out of her bra, looking up local plumbers and calling up one with good reviews, looking over the sink now that Dirk had turned off the water. Using her newfound powers so precisely had left her with a bit of a headache. She'd definitely need to practice more. Nudging ocean waves while surfing was a very different kettle of fish to trying to put out a small fire in an apartment. "Yes," she said when someone answered. "I need a plumber out here as soon as possible. Mmhm, broken sink, needs a replacement faucet and probably the plumbing checked." 

Feferi paused and covered the mouthpiece, looking over at Dirk. "Any other plumbing need repairs while they come out?" 

Dirk stared at her in horror. Hiring a plumber was definitely not in this month's budget. 

Feferi blinked her big eyes at him then shook her head. "Yes, just the kitchen sink.... No that isn't soon enough, I'll pay double if.. yes tonight will be good." She rattled off the address when asked, and then gave her card information, making it clear that the bill was to come to her. 

Dirk relaxed a little when it seemed that she was paying, but his uneasiness grew at her largesse. In his experience, wealthy strangers were not a welcome occurrence and nothing ever came free. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded when she hung up the phone and tucked it back into her bra again. 

Feferi beamed at him, good humor restored by knowing her momentary lapse wouldn't inconvenience them for long. "Fixing your sink," she said with satisfaction. "They should be here tonight and then your sink will be working again!" 

Dirk scowled at her and stepped past to start putting the groceries away. "I didn't ask you to do that." 

"Whale it's my fault it broke, so it's the least I can do," she said cheerfully, looking around their apartment as ideas began to sparkle in her mind. "Do you like living in a cramped space like mistreated petshop fish? Nothing wrong with liking bunk beds and small spaces but you don't seem very... comfortable."

"None of your business," Dirk snapped, finishing putting the groceries away. "Look, my computer invited you over but I'd much rather you got out of here until I invite you personally." 

Feferi pursed her lips. "Are you shore? The plumber should be here soon and they might try to..." 

Dirk shook his head. "I can handle them and I heard what you said, I'll handle them." 

Feferi frowned. "...Fine. But only if you PROMISE to get in contact with me soon." 

"Fine," Dirk snapped. 

Dave stayed on the couch, keeping quiet and doing his best to stay calm. He'd lit that smuppet on fire when he'd freaked out... he could have burned their apartment down if not for that spray of water... the spray of water that pink girl may have caused somehow? Maybe... maybe he wasn't the only one with powers... He snuck a look at Dirk behind his shades, beginning to wonder if Dirk was hiding any secrets. He wouldn't keep something like that secret but.... then again Dave was still keeping his growing powers a secret.... They needed to talk... but not in front of the strange rich girl who'd broken into their apartment, maybe broken their sink, and then paid double for a plumber to come out tonight. 

Feferi dug her wallet out of the other side of her bra and rifled through it until she found a card with her name and number neatly printed on it in gold and held it out to him. "Call me if you have any problems with the plumber and otherwise... just call, ok? I need to talk to you. Please?" 

Dirk accepted, then nodded his head toward the door. 

She tried to meet his eyes behind the shades, only finding her reflection. She sighed and left. 

Dirk closed the door behind her and locked it, leaning his forehead against the cheap wood with its peeling paint. "I'm going to kill lil' Hal." 

Dave looked up at him. "...Who was that?" 

Dirk shook his head slowly and went to sit behind his brother on the sofa. "Feferi Peixes, according to this very fancy business card she apparently just carries around with her." He heard the subtle purr of an engine and shook his head. "I'm guessing that fancy coupe is hers too." 

"What the hell?" 

"Like I know." 

"She seemed to know you though." 

"Dave... it's a long story..." 

A knock on the door announced the arrival of the plumber. Dave retreated to the corner of a room, putting on his headphones and letting Dirk handle the plumber and the wink, focusing on music and talking to Jade. It helped keep him calm, helped keep him from starting any fires. What if the plumber saw? What if the plumber called the police? By the time the burly man left, leaving a shiny new faucet in place without charging them a dime, the moment had passed for telling his brother about his possible powers. How do you tell someone you can light fires with your mind maybe? Dirk had lapsed into silence as well, sharpening his katana and sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space and Dave didn't know how to ask about the strange girl who had swept through their apartment like a hurricane. 

Well, maybe she wouldn't be back. 

——-

Driving home, Feferi considered everything she had seen. The apartment was far too small, neither of them seeming very attached to it or comfortable living there. They had seemed more surprised that the break-in hadn’t been serious or hostile than that there had been any sort of break-in at all. Not safe. Well… maybe she could help with that. 

Her teeth gleamed as the bright glee of doing good things for friends wrapped around her.


	2. Safe Harbor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feferi's attempt to help the Striders does not go how any of them would have predicted.

After some initial hesitancy, Feferi soon enlisted Lil' Hal as her co-conspirator in her operation to secure her new frond and his brother a bigger and better tank. The monster sightings had, after all, become more frequent, as did the rumors of vigilantes of varying kinds running around. A dream on Derse she half-remembered made her especially antsy about those she had met on the purple moon, and, happily, she had the resources to make them safe. It all seemed so straightforward from her perspective. 

Given her experience with her aquarium fish, she knew enough not to move them in with her. Everyone but Eridan who had seen where she really lived lost perspective, and Dirk and Dave ... well her priority was their health and safety. Real estate in the college town could be tricky.... but Feferi was a Peixes. She might be a disappointment to the cutthroat corporate executive who birthed her but her reach was vast and strong and her mother's network was vaster still. Contacting a real estate agent was simple enough, as was outlining her goals and within the day she had secured an apartment for them on the top floor of a building downtown, near shops, with private parking behind a gate in case they had a vehicle. The registries had nothing but well... maybe that could be her next gift. 

Lil' Hal had assured her that Dirk and Dave loved surprises and helpfully provided their schedules. As soon as the two had departed for work, Feferi descended upon their current building's manager, and, with a couple of twenties and the remainder of their lease paid, he was off to take his girlfriend out to a nice dinner and Feferi had unfettered access to the Strider's apartment. 

Beaming, she brought in the movers she had hired, supervising with as focused attention as she had brought to anything in her life. She wanted to surprise them, but she wanted them to be happy and such a sudden move could be... traumatic. Even with Lil' Hal's reassurances, she was very very careful to insure that nothing took damage in the move, paying extra to have everything neatly packed and carried down to the van, the boxes meticulously labeled and reference photographs of the various electronic setups taken. 

Happily the two Striders both had very long work days today and she was able to oversee the unpacking of their limited furniture in their new apartment, insure that her instructions had been followed as far as stocking the fridge and turning on the utilities before, with a happy smile, she hurried back to their old apartment to wait for their return. 

With Lil' Hal's advice, she locked the door to the now-empty apartment with a note instructing them to come down to the manager's office, where she sat behind the desk as impressively as she could manage. 

Ten minutes later she was up and pacing and rummaging through the desk drawers, intrigued to find that the manager had a wife and children despite being out to dinner with his girlfriend. Shaking her head, she tried to sit still and wait. 

\-----

Dirk was more than ready to fall into bed, dark circles under his eyes behind the shades. He opened the door, freezing in place at the sight of the apartment completely empty of their stuff. _Shit._

In exhausted confusion, he stepped back to check that he'd opened the right door... As that ridiculous rich girl had demonstrated, security in this place was a joke. Instead of seeing that he was on the wrong floor or at the wrong door... he found the note. _Fuck. Shit._

His heart started to pound, mind kicking into overdrive. Rent was paid... not due again for another couple of days and they'd been late enough times that he knew the building manager didn't care. There were several empty apartments so it wasn't like he'd make more money kicking them out unless..... No, there was no way Bro could have found them. _Fuck. Shit. Damn._

Dirk didn't even have his sword, but he bolted for the manager's office, barely registering that he'd made it there inhumanly fast, practically between one step and the next. He banged his fist on the door, his mind populating the office with the towering figure out of the nightmares that haunted and the memories that were worse. 

\-----

Feferi practically flew to the door, she was so excited. She yanked it open and Dirk's fist almost slammed into her face before he yanked it back, staring at her in shock. 

"Surprise!!!!" she cried, jumping up and down. 

"What the _fuck_?" Dirk said with feeling. 

\-----

Dave made it up the stairs to their floor before his numb mind reminded him that he'd forgotten to pick up dinner for them on the way home. His stomach rumbled belatedly and he rubbed his tired face, deciding to head inside and talk to Dirk before heading out again. 

Their door was open. 

Dave froze, then ghosted forward, staring at the note and then past into their empty apartment. He was halfway down the stairs before Dirk picked up his phone. 

"Dirk! Dirk? Our place is empty? There was a note from the landlord but-"

"Come on down to the office, I got home a little before you. I think... Look just come down. We aren't in that sort of trouble and no sign of _him._ " 

The connection cut out and Dave put his phone away, hands clenched into fists. If that bastard thought he could steal all of their stuff....

\-----

Feferi sat on the building manager's desk as Dirk answered his phone. She wasn't pouting, she was sitting here totally calmly, her expression that of any calm and reasonable person who just wanted to do something nice for someone. And then got yelled at. 

Dirk had had her run through the sequence of events twice so far, not a twitch to betray his feelings about the whole thing... and then his phone had rung. 

Dave burst in and Feferi beamed at him. "Surprise!"

"What the _fuck_."

"That's what I said."

\-----

Given that all of their stuff was gone to the new apartment, and at the very least they would reclaim their personal effects before making another move, they finally agreed to pile into her car and be driven to this supposed new apartment. Dirk made Dave get into the back, double checking that the door wasn't safety locked and ostentatiously rolling down the windows as soon as she started the car. 

Feferi just grinned at them and turned up the radio, rolling down her own window as the rising and falling scales and eerie rumbling of whale songs filled the car as she drove. Dirk kept an eye on her from behind her shades as she drove. His defensiveness reminded her of nothing so much as an injured osprey that had been brough in to the oceanography and marine biology facility on a weekend when the vet was out of town. The tension and clear readiness to slash were identical. 

Smiling, she hit a button and the gates on the underground parking structure slid smoothly open and she pulled into her parking spot. After all, what better way to be sure the new tank was taking than to rent an apartment a few floors down for the time being. It made for a much less alarming abode than her real house and maybe... maybe once they were more used to her she could explain and maybe things would be different this time. 

She bounced out of the car, the windows rolling up automatically once they were all out and she locked it. "This is my space, yours are over there if you have any vehicles at present and if you don't.... Well the elevator is this way!" 

\-----

Dave and Dirk stuck close together, following the bright pink terror through the intimidating luxury of the garage. 

"Serial killers aren't usually wearing bright pink, right?" Dave whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"If she pulls out a knife we'll take her apart," Dirk reassured him. 

They stepped cautiously into the elevator, her chatter about where to take their trash out and what floor they could find her on washing over them like waves around stone as she hit the top button for 'P.' 

"It doesn't have a great view," she cautioned, handing each of them key cards for the elevator and the outside entrances and then keys to their front door. "The balcony is nice and the appliances are fairly new. I... may have gone a little overboard... but if your'e up for it I can take you furniture shopping!! Or have a housewarming party!!" 

The elevator doors slid open on a minimalist hallway with elegant dark wallpaper with dark purple swirls that reminded Dirk irresistibly of the purple moon where he'd first met Feferi. He and Dave advanced on the single door at the end of the short hallway, Dave watching his back automatically as he turned the key. There was no way they could afford to even be _breathing_ in this place. Even the air smelled expensive. 

"I think you'll like it here," Feferi enthused as the door swung wide. 

\-----

Dirk kept his face impassive as he stared around at the high ceilings. The wall of elegant glass with a wide balcony beyond. The kitchen had marble countertops and an oven you could probably cook a freaking pig in. Feferi was bouncing around, pointing out light switches and explaining that the fridge was already stocked and she could have regular deliveries set up for them. She frowned a little at their duct-taped together table he'd found by the dumpster and considered an excellent find. Their threadbare futon sofa was dwarfed by the large living room. 

Feferi steered them around on a tour of _their new apartment_ , filling the growing silence with her chatter as she pointed out that both rooms were technically masters since they each had their own bathroom, the entire other room that could be a workspace and currently housed the two desks, their computers and music gear and a great deal of empty wall space. She pointed out the jacuzzi on the balcony outside and the laundry room and then stopped in the living room, bouncing on the balls of her feet and practically throwing off sparks of excitement, her dark hair a cloud behind her nearly as dark as the storm clouds brewing in his own. 

"We can't afford this place, Fef," he finally burst out, taking a step toward her. "And how _dare_ you just..... just _steal_ all of our stuff without permission!!"

Dirk felt Dave move to flank him, showing his support in the face of this.... this spoiled rich girl who thought she could do what she wanted with them. They weren't pawns. They weren't _things_. He'd _kill_ someone before he let anyone treat Dave like a thing. 

Feferi blinked at him, then deflated a little. "...Lil' Hal tricked me again didn't he..." she said in a small voice. 

"I am smashing that computer."

"He... he said you love surprises? He gave me your schedules..." 

"...and then I will smash the pieces that remain." 

Dirk heard Dave's stomach rumble, and Feferi perked up again, dashing off to the kitchen. "There are steaks! And there's a grill on the balcony or you could cook them on the stove." She shot Dirk a slightly embarrassed grin. "I _did_ stock your cooking utensils for a housewarming." 

Dave burst out laughing and Dirk felt some of the tight knot in his chest ease. "So you're just... giving us an apartment. For nothing." 

"Well..." Feferi, for the first time since he'd met her, looked actually unsure of herself. "I... I was hoping we might become friends? I don't want any of my fellow gods or heroes or whatever to be in danger and... and your old place was terrible!! For forty bucks your building manager let me completely take all of your stuff without complaint! Here there is security and no one can get in without permission or a key."

Dirk sighed, then nudged her out of the way and stared into the fridge so large and so full it ought to have been bursting at the seams. "Sandwich ok?" 

Dave nodded and Dirk got down plates and assembled ingredients, reassured that they were the same chipped mismatched plates from their old apartment, lending some reality to the fresh baked loaf of some fancy bread he sliced up, automatically making a third sandwich for Feferi as she and Dave watched him. She hadn't been kidding about the apartment being well stocked. He went all out on the sandwiches with fancy cheese and mustard and meat, adding pickles to his and none to Dave's and then glanced at her. "Pickles?" 

Feferi blinked at him. "Did you want a different kind?" She turned toward another cupboard and pulled it open, revealing yet more cans and jars. Dirk waited for the resentment to wash over him at her spoiled princess imperious ways, sweeping in and dumping charity on them.... but it was hard to stay mad in the face of her apparent sincerity and... well... food and a safer place to live... they could never have had this much security on their own. 

"No, Feferi, for your sandwich." 

She turned to stare at him, then swallowed. "No thank you," she whispered, those disconcertingly bright pink eyes full of something... but he didn't have time to decipher her emotions right now. If he could ever. The girl listened to whale songs for fun. 

At last he pushed the plates toward her and Dave and picked up his own sandwich. Even with the sunglasses, he and Dave could read each other well enough. Dave shrugged and lifted his sandwich in a toast, still wary, but willing to see how this went. "To... trying a new thing," Dirk said and bit into his sandwich. Dave smiled very slightly and bit into his as well. Feferi bit into hers and he noticed a suspicious wetness around her eyes. "Are... you crying?" 

Feferi set down her sandwich and pushed her glasses up, wiping her eyes and giving them both a watery smile. "I'm really glad you like it," she managed to say, then buried her face in her hands with a little sob. 

Dirk and Dave exchanged slightly panicky looks, then Dirk cautiously patted her shoulder, Dave snatching a towel off of the oven and offering it to her. She buried her face in it. 

"I mean we'll try it for a bit... but if we don't like it we can leave whenever we want," he warned. 

Feferi nodded, towel still held to her face. 

Dirk patted her back again. 

Feferi said something, but the towel muffled it. 

"What?" 

"...Nobody ever made me a sandwich before... at least not someone who was hired to do it," she managed, giving him a pathetic smile. "Thank you." 

Dirk stared at her, glad of his shades, then sighed and pushed her plate toward her again. "It's just a sandwich, Fef. You got us an apartment." 

Feferi smiled at them both, wiped her eyes, and bit into her sandwich again. 

Dave gave him a shrug and ate his too. The bread was thick and delicious, everything so fresh it was practically jumping off the plate. Sure she was overbearing and ridiculously high handed but maybe this could work. "Just don't ask Lil' Hal for advice any more, ok? I don't like surprises. Just _ask_ me. Directly." 

Feferi nodded meekly in a way he found very suspicious. 

"And don't come sneaking over uninvited, even if you do live in the same building. Even if you're putting us up here, if you want us to stay, it has to be our place and just ours." 

Feferi nodded again, but then grinned, that spark back in her expression. "I'll agree to that," she said. "But in exchange you have to let me furnish your place. Deal?" Fef stuck out a hand with bright pink fingernails and several rings.

Dirk glanced at Dave for consent first before shaking her hand. "Fine, but only if we get to pick things out. I'm not living in a sea of pink."

"What about orange? And red?" 

"We get final veto. ...But a new bed would be nice..." 

"And a couch! And a TV! And chandeliers!!"

"Fef...."

"...Ok... Well... what would you like?" 

"Better." 

They finished their sandwiches and as Dirk looked around the apartment.... it tasted just a little bit like security... and home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day five of my piecemeal NaNoWriMo in the form of various works of fanfiction. My thanks again for titanium canary and infected metaphysic for letting me adapt our rp into a more consumable form. SUCH LOGAH NOSTALGIA. Thanks again to stripe for being the mod that facilitated all of this in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> Days two and three of my piecemeal NaNoWriMo in the form of various works of fanfiction. This one goes out to infectedmetaphysic and titaniumcanary for the excellent rp I am attempting to memorialize in some way and stripe for facilitating the rp in the first place!


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